Android also registers the biggest growth quarter-to-quarter of any of the indicators that MobiLens watches, going up in market share from 9% and the end of February to 13% at the end of May, a whopping 44% gain.

And this is one trend which is guaranteed to continue, especially since more and more Android smartphones are set to be available on all US carriers in the near future.

Yah, so, ok ... Android grows. Its chief competitors are Blackberry and Apple and both of those are closed systems with huge share. Android, as a class, will dominate relatively soon ... but no single manufacturer will benefit. (This is the world Microsoft envisioned for itself and botched.) Both RIM and Apple will continue to prosper for the foreseeable future because they bring distinctly different benefits to the market.

Yah, so, ok ... Android grows. Its chief competitors are Blackberry and Apple and both of those are closed systems with huge share. Android, as a class, will dominate relatively soon ... but no single manufacturer will benefit. (This is the world Microsoft envisioned for itself and botched.) Both RIM and Apple will continue to prosper for the foreseeable future because they bring distinctly different benefits to the market.

And Kobo will be there on everything... except symbian (R.I.P.)... and I'm not too sure about win mo.

I don't use Mobi on the EVO, I use ePub in FBReader, hence the Calibre Mobi to ePub conversion. I read Mobi on the Asus T91MT tablet.

That's why I'm interested in the Kobo reader, it says it can sync the two. What little I've played with Kobo on the EVO, it doesn't appear to support importing my existing (non-DRM ePub) library though.

By virtue of being made by so many manufacturers it is reasonable to see android eventually becoming the largest single mobile os, but no way will it happen in a year, there are plenty of people who like and trust their blackberry and apple products who don't see any reason to switch.

The blogs in particular like to write-off blackberry, but if you want a device that is a better fit for your pocket than most smartphones that does all the communication from voice to im, social networks etc and has a battery that isn't going to run out the same day then a blackberry is tough to beat.

Ironically with the way android has tended to push the specs arms race quite heavily to make up ground, I actually think that some more mainstream devices like the htc wildfire may be the crucial thing for android taking the next step as there is only so many sales at the high end of the market.

By virtue of being made by so many manufacturers it is reasonable to see android eventually becoming the largest single mobile os, but no way will it happen in a year, there are plenty of people who like and trust their blackberry and apple products who don't see any reason to switch.

Your assuming the only room for growth is existing smartphone users and smartphones.
I agree die hard Apple/BlackBerry fans will not easily switch, but many new users entering the market have no bias and are willing to pick up a Droid as their first smart phone.

However there are many folks who are not die hard fans and will go with a solution that fits them best. I can tell you as a long time member of the Crackberry site, there has been a huge attrition of BB users that seem to coincide with the Droid release, HTC Incredible, and Evo.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crowl

The blogs in particular like to write-off blackberry, but if you want a device that is a better fit for your pocket than most smartphones that does all the communication from voice to im, social networks etc and has a battery that isn't going to run out the same day then a blackberry is tough to beat.

You know I really like my BB device, I see the same arguments over at Crackberry daily and even made the same statements. However for Christmas I purchased my wife the Droid Eris, couldn't talk here into a BlackBerry. I've realized all those arguments don't hold water. With the exception of notifications and email management, the Droid does everything better.

As for the battery life, I have a Storm, and the phone does not last past one day. I'm guessing it has to do with screen size as the smaller BB screens tend to have much better batter lives than the Storm 1/2 series. Point is that is not an OS/Platform issue but a screen issue.

To be honest I think somebody like blackberry is actually doing more to convert feature phone users than android due to pricing (8500 series) or form factor (pearl).

Some of the posters on crackberry are seriously tedious at times, anyone who dares to voice the opinion that maybe blackberry aren't doomed and aren't terrible get shouted down by the former bb owners who have hung around like a bad smell.

Given the age of your storm's battery and the likely lack of memory it isn't surprising that it has poor battery life.

To be honest I think somebody like blackberry is actually doing more to convert feature phone users than android due to pricing (8500 series) or form factor (pearl).

Well I haven't seen any studies on such a thing so I can't comment on who is more successful in bringing in more first time smartphone users. And I would not be to surprised if what you said is true.

I can just go by my experience, that everyone I known who has bought a BlackBerry has either stopped the service or went to another solution. Also everybody I know who buys a new smartphone has also chosen either apple or android. Also chances are that I too will be buying an android phone.

Also note RIM has been doing smartphones for some time. And has a leg up on android and apple. However there are many manufactures that have adopted the android platform. These devices range from feature phones to entry level smartphones to high end smartphones.

RIM's dominance of the past cannot be used for an argument for its future dominance the field has changed much since a year ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crowl

Some of the posters on crackberry are seriously tedious at times, anyone who dares to voice the opinion that maybe blackberry aren't doomed and aren't terrible get shouted down by the former bb owners who have hung around like a bad smell.
Given the age of your storm's battery and the likely lack of memory it isn't surprising that it has poor battery life.

Yeah that is true, but I find them more amusing than annoying.

Also my comment about the battery life has been true since day one(almost two years now). My storm has never lasted past the day without having to charge it. Amazingly my battery life has not deteriorated much, to the point I can't notice a difference.

Again I'll reiterate I think that battery life is mostly tied to screen size.